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Sunday, April 29, 2018

Book Review: The Snow Child

“In my old age, I see that life itself is often more
fantastic and terrible than the stories we believed as children, and that
perhaps there is no harm in finding magic among the trees.”

I was pretty skeptical about this book at first. It almost
didn’t make it onto my To-Be-Read list. But am I glad it did! I ended up devouring it
in a couple of sittings. Set in Alaska during the 1920’s, the state itself is
as real as a character. I’m particularly drawn to stories like this!

Far too often, stories center on the beauty of summer and
the darkness of winter. Winter, at least in my own mind, is a dark creature to
be shunned. But this story reminds me of the beauty of it, the beauty in all
its wonder and cruelty and cold. Not many books present winter in such a way,
except maybe The Left Hand of Darkness,
and even then, it’s more cruel than beautiful.

Often times, the story left me wondering what was real and
what wasn’t. I suppose that’s a feature of magical realism, and I rather
enjoyed it. The snow child’s dialogue lacked quotation marks while everybody
else’s dialogue had them, which made me think her words were either soft spoken
or closer to thought than actual dialogue. Then there was the whole idea that
she had parents at one point, or did she really come from the first snow of
winter?

I particularly enjoyed the characters, as this was more of a
character-driven story than a plot-driven one. Mabel and Jack are such a
wonderful couple, and I loved it when they were making snow angels in their
yard with the snow child or when they danced in the kitchen. Yet they’re not
without their faults, and the character development was so well done.

Mabel’s relationship with the snow child had to be my
favorite. Having had a stillborn child years before, Mabel cares for the little
girl just as though she was her own. And the child not only inspires Mabel to
pick up drawing again and to write to her sister back East, but the child also
draws her back to the desire to live.

The Snow Child has
to be my favorite fairy tale retelling yet! It centers on the beauty and the
cruelty of nature, the enjoyment of the little things, and the joy and sorrow
of relationships. Drawn from the Russian tale of Snegurochka, the snow child,
the book actually references the original tales, and Mabel spends plenty of
time studying the pictures in an old book of her father’s, even though the text
itself is in Russian.

In all, I gave The
Snow Child 4/5 stars for wonderful storytelling and characters. I’d
recommend it to anybody who enjoys fairy tales and well-written stories and
snow. For the author’s debut, I am immensely impressed.

Doesn’t The Snow Child
sound wonderful? Have you read it already? You might also enjoy these
magical realism stories: Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter, Illusionby Frank E. Peretti, andBone Gap by
Laura Ruby.

Let’s chat! Has The Snow
Child made it to your to-be-read list yet? Anybody out there read it? Have
any magical realism book recommendations?